16 Grindhouse Classics

With the recent renewed interest in Grindhouse cinema, lead by likes Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodrigez, with their "Grindhouse" double feature, I've decided to list a few classic Grindhouse gems for those interested in checking out what the Grindhouse experience was like.

The term Grindhouse came from the theaters in which these mainly exploitation genre films were often shown, usually former burlesque theaters that once featured "bump and grind" striptease shows. These theaters were far from family-friendly and were often dirty, uncomfortable, and filled with low-lifes and perverts. These theaters were famous for double and triple features, showing films though out the day and night. Although these theaters existed in inner cities through out the country, the most well known was the chain of theaters on New York City's 42nd Street in Time Square, nicknamed the "The Deuce."

With the advent of home video grindhouses gradually became a thing of the past. If people wished to view exploitative or pornographic films they could do it in the comfort and privacy of their own homes.

So now that I've covered what grindhouse is I thought I'd give a few prime examples for anyone interested in seeing exactly what grindhouse is about. So here goes in no particular order.

Notorious Canadian Nazi concentration camp sexploitation opus. Produced by sleazemeister David F. Friedman, Ilsa was the only film that he ever felt so ashamed of that actually had his name removed from it. Dyanne Thorne stars as Ilsa, the ruthless and sadistic commandant of a Nazi medial Camp where she is conducting experiments on the amount of pain her (usually naked) female prisoners can endure. Her goal is to prove that women are more resistant to pain than men and should be allowed on the front lines. Male inmates perform slave labor during the day and at night Ilsa chooses one to gratify her sexual appetite, but those who fail to satisfy her (which is pretty much all of them) are castrated. That is until she meets her match, in the form of two new prisoners. Anna, who will not break no matter what torture Ilsa tries her. And Wolfe, whom she can not conquer in bed.

Shot in a week on the left over sets from Hogan's Heroes after it's cancelation. It's a brutal, nasty, tasteless predecessor to the current slate of torture films like Hostel and Saw. Ilsa spawned two official sequels, Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Shieks and Ilsa,Tigress of Siberia, as well as an official one best know as Ilsa, the Wicked Wardern, though it has been released under numerous titles.

Hard to find gem. Yet to be released on DVD in the U.S., the only available copies are Spainish DVD imports and used VHS copies. Rolling Thunder is a rarely seen and highly underrated picture. Written by Paul Schrader around the same time as he penned taxi driver, with an early supporting role from Tommy Lee Jones, and starring William Devane in a really great balance of a performance between intensity and restraint. Devane plays Major Charles Rane, a recently released Vietnam POW, given a hero's welcome upon return to his Texas hometown. Things go down hill from there when he finds that his wife is now in love with another man and his son doesn't recognize him. When some of the townspeople present him with a new car and a collection of silver dollars, a gang of thieves end up torturing and disfiguring him, and killing his wife and child in attempts to steal the coins. Rane then heads out to hunt down and exact vengeance on the men who killed his son.

Quentin Tarantino has often named Rolling Thunder as one of his favorite films and has gone so far as to name his now defunct B-Movie video distribution company Rolling Thunder Pictures after it. Gene Siskel of Siskel & Ebert fame, listed it as number ten on his list of the ten best movies of 1977. Yet, it remains a relatively unknown and underappreciated film.

The first film effort of horror mainstay Wes Craven and produced by Sean S. Cunningham, who would go on to create Friday the 13th. Loosely based on Ingmar Bergman's Virgin Springs, which it's self was adapted from a 13th century Swedish balled, "Töres dotter i Wänge", it was original intended to be a graphic hardcore x-rated film. All of the actors and crew had been committed to filming it as such. However, as shooting began, the decision was made to cut out the more hardcore pornographic material. This original script was titled "Night of Vengeance" and has never been released. The film has been subject to controversy and censorship in many countries to this day.

Last House, remains to this day, a grim, disturbing, unsettling, at times uncomfortable to film to watch. It's cut rate production value and blownout, hazy grain film stock only add a more documentary voyeuristic feel. It explores themes of morality, justice and revenge, questioning whether murder is ever justifiable and how normal everyday people can be turned into savage, methodical killers, when pushed to their limits. It's territory that Craven would explore again in his second feature, The Hills Have Eyes.

A quartet of criminals, lead by the great David Hess as the maniacal Krug, kidnap a pair of teenage girls and proceed to viciously torture, rape, and murder them in the woods, before unwittingly taking refuge at the home of one of the girls. When the parents discover what they've done, they seek violent retribution. The violence is stark and brutal. The camera never flinches away from it. Craven chose to heavily contrast events in the film with the comic interludes of two inept cops, and the use of some fairly unusual song cues. These songs were written and partially sung by actor David Hess.

Last House on the Left, along with movies like Night of the Living Dead, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Halloween set new standards and completely redefined the horror genre.

Blaxploitation landmark that made Pam Grier a star. Written and directed by low budget exploitation master Jack Hill, who was also responsible for such memorable works as Spider Baby and Switchblade Sisters. Grier plays a hardworking nurse turned vigilante, out to take down the drug dealers who addicted her younger sister. She sets about infiltrating the organized-crime ring by posing as a Jamaican prostitute. Coffy seduces, slashes, shoots, and blasts her way through an assortment of pimps, pushers, thugs, and crooked cops all the way to the top of the drug ring.

This is the role in which Pam Grier defined the ultimate iconic strong black women. Hill and Grier had worked together previously in the women in prison exploitation classics, The Big Doll House and The Big Bird Cage. After the huge success Coffy, they teamed up one more time for what was originally intended to be a sequel to Coffy, but end up as a separate picture, Foxy Brown.

Shaw Brother's Kung Fu classic. Released by Warner Brothers in March of 1973, it was the first Hong Kong martial arts import to gain international success, beginning the kung fu explosion of the 1970's. Paving the way for for Bruce Lee's success with Enter the Dragon. Five Finger's developed an immediate cult following in the U.S. The film sampled the theme from the television series Ironside played during several of its fight scenes, which Quentin Tarantino referenced by repeating it's same use in his Kill Bill films.

Asian martial arts star Lo Lieh stars as a young martial arts student, Chi-hao. When I rival school, with the help of hired assassins, threatens to take over; his master sends him to study with a superior master, to learn the "Iron Palm technique, in order to defeat the opposing school in an upcoming tournament. Well choreographed action set pieces combine with more melodramatic story elements of loyalty, betrayal, revenge, and redemption, giving it a more universal appeal beyond that of just simply kung fu fans.

Dragon Dynasty has recently released a newly remaster widescreen transfer to DVD, under it's original title, King Boxer. However, to it's many diehard fans it will always be know under the more exploitative title, "Five Finger of Death", given to it by Warner Brothers.

After the worldwide success of Enter the Dragon, there was a scramble among studios to find the next Bruce Lee. Shinichi "Sony" Chiba was already well known in Japan, having starred in several action movies, comedies, dramas, as well as numerous television shows. Chiba stars as Terry Tsuguri in the english dubbed version; Takuma Tsurugi in the original Japanese language.Tsuguri is a martial arts mercenary for hire. As the movie begins Tsurugi is rescuing a condemned man, Tateki Shikenbaru, from prison. However, the man's brother and sister make the mistake of reneging on payment, ending in tragedy for them, causing their brother to see revenge. Meanwhile, when Terry turns down the Yakuza attempt to hire him to kidnap the daughter of a recently deceased oil tycoon and instead vows to be her protector becoming a one-man army against the mob.

Well known for its graphic violence, Street Fighter was the first film to receive an X-rating solely for violence. The most controversial scene being one in which Tsurugi castrates a rapist with his bare hands. Reportedly this along with few other scenes earned it the X-rating. 16 minutes were cut from the film in order to obtain an R-rating. It went on to spawn two sequels, Return of The Street Fighter and The Street Fighter's Fighter's Last Revenge. It also inspired a spin-off, Sister Street Fighter, which its self earned a series of sequels.

Street Fighter received a small amount of mainstream exposure in the early 90's in the movie True Romance, which features the two lead characters spending time watching a Street Fighter marathon. This small tribute is once again owed to Quentin Tarantino who penned the original script for True Romance.

Zombie is probably the best known of legendary Italian director Lucio Fulci's films. It revived his sagging career and firmly planted him as a main stay in the Italian Horror genre. Zombie or as it was originaly titled Zombi 2, although it is not a direct sequel to any film. After Dario Argento's extremely successful European release of George Romero Dawn of the Dead under the title Zombi, Fulci and his producers decided capitalize on it by adding the opening and closing scenes in New York on to their existing script and re-titling it Zombi 2. Though marketed as a sequel in Italy, it shares very few links or similarities to Romero's film, for going any clever metaphors for consumerism in favor of a simple straight ahead exploitation action/adventure narrative.

The Story starts with two harbor patrolmen investigating an abandoned boat sailing recklessly off the New York Harbor. While searching they are attacked by a zombie. The daughter of the boats owner teams up with an investigative journalist to find out what happened to her father. Their investigation leads them to the Island of Matool. Along the way they enlist the aid of an experienced sailing couple. On the island they meet her father's medical partner, and find out that he and her father were working on a cure for a strange disease that causing the island's dead to rise from the grave.

Fulci was never one to skimp on the gore and Zombie is no exception. The film became infamous for two scenes in particular. One features a zombie fighting with a shark. The other depicts a characters eye being gouged out on a splintered piece of wood. To be fair, the dialog, the pacing, and the continuity are all a little off. What Lucio does bring is a manic energy, mixed with some decent atmosphere, some nicely gory effects work, and a trademark Fulcio apocalyptic ending.

The success of Zombi 2 in Europe paved the way for more sequels, all of which with completely self-containing stories; None baring any plot links to the other. It also unleashed a plethora of imitators to the Italian cannibal/ zombie genre.

Part of the Italian cannibal film sub genre of the 70's and 80's. Arguably one of the most controversial movies ever made. The target of bans and censorship throughout the world for it's over the top gore, sexual violence, and animal cruelty. Shot in the actual Amazon Rainforest, it tells the story Prof. Harold Monroe's trip into the jungle to determine the fate of four missing American documentary filmmakers. His subsequent recovery and viewing of their lost film footage reveals exactly what happened to them. This "found footage" concept and cinema verite style have been copied in recent films, such as The Last Broadcast, The Blair Witch Project, Quarentine and Rec, and even the recent box office hit Paranormal Experience.

After premiering in Italy, Cannibal Holocaust was seized by Italian authorities, and director, Ruggero Deodato was arrested on obscenity charges. Rumors that actors had actually been murdered in the filming of their death scenes began to circulate. This belief became so wide spread that even the courts began to think that Deodato had made a snuff film. To make matters more complicated, some of the actors had signed contracts prohibiting them from appearing in any type of media, motion pictures, or commercials for one year from the release date of the movie, in order to promote the very idea of the films authenticity. This created questions as to why none of them had been seen in anything else after the filming. Finally, in order to avoid a life sentence in prison, Deodato voided the contracts and brought the four actors who portrayed the ill fated film crew onto an Italian television show. This satisfied the courts, however he still had to explain how one of the movie most graphic and memorable scenes, the impalement of a native tribal woman, was achieved. The murder charges were dropped, however, Deodato, the producers, screenwriter, and a representative of United Artists were all convicted of obscenity and animal cruelty charges, receiving four month suspended sentences. The movie remained banned in Italy till 1984, when a rating certicate of VM18 was granted for an edited print.

The film was also banned in the United Kingdoms, Australia, Norway, and several other countries for it's graphic gore, sexual violence, and genuine on-screen animals killings. Unconfirmed accounts claim the movie to have been banned in over 50 countries. Though many nations have since revoked such bans, it still remains controversial to this day. In 2006, the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) in New Zealand banned the film in it's entirety. For his part Deodato has condemned his past use of real animal torture in his films saying " it was stupid to introduce animals."

Despite it's infamy, some critics see the film as a social commentary on the contrasts, and contradictions of the idea of civilized society. Mark Goodall , the author of Sweet Savage: The World Through the Shockumentary Film Lens, contends that the film themes concern the rape of the natural world and the exploitation of primitive cultures by the modern world. After seeing the film, director Sergio Leone wrote a letter to Deadato calling the second half a masterpiece of cinematographic realism.

Due to it's graphic nature, there have been numerous cuts of the film in circulation. Even uncut releases of the film can differ in content as there are multiple versions of a segment known as "The Last Road to Hell", which includes footage of genuine political executions. While over the years, Cannibal Holocaust has had many imitators and unofficial sequels, the most notable being Umberto Lenzi's Cannibal Ferox (aka Make Them Die Slowly), it wasn't until 2009 that Deodato officially announced that he intended to direct a companion piece entitled simply Cannibals. Unfortunately, financial disputes with the project's producer have led to it's cancellation.

Originally titled Day of the Woman, I Spit on Your Grave is considered the seminal film in the rape/ revenge sub-genre. Controversial to this day, the picture first gained infamy in the late 70's and early 80's when critics and women's groups lashed out against it, claiming that it glorified violence against women. Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert led a crusade against the film that eventually led to it being pulled from a Chicago theater. In his review of the film Roger Ebert wrote that it was the worst movie that he had ever seen, referring to it as "a vile bag of garbage... without a shred of artistic distinction," adding that "Attending it was one of the most depressing experiences of my life." While a censored version of the film was released in the U.S. with an R-rating, many other countries, such as Ireland, Norway, Iceland, Canada, and Britain banned it out right.

Camille Keaton (the grand-niece of silent movie star Buster Keaton) stars as Jennifer Hill, a young New York magazine writer vacationing at remote cottage, so she can be undisturbed, as she prepares to write her first novel. While there she's terrorized, brutally assaulted, repeatedly raped, and left for dead by four backwoods country rednecks. A traumatized Jennifer pulls herself together, and methodical tracks down each of here assailants one by one, exacting her revenge.

I Spit on Your Graves reputation is somewhat earned. It's scenes of gang rape are lengthy and graphic, which can make them uncomfortable to watch. However, the movie does not eroticize them. There's a lack of the more lurid sex appeal of many similarly themed exploitation films. The sequences of rape in the film are clearly seen as acts of violence. Jennifer's retribution against her attackers is equally brutal, with one of the movie most notorious scenes ending in the castration of one of the men. She actually ends up using her female sexuality as a weapon against the men, enticing them into letting down their guard. This may be why some recent reappraisals of the film have suggested that it's actually a very pro feminist film.

One of the most frenzied, furiously violent action packed samurai movies of all time. After a powerful shogun turns against his loyal samurai executioner, Ogami Itto (aka Lone Wolf), killing his wife, he swears on his honor to seek vengeance against his former master. On the run and seeking revenge with his young son in tow, he is forced to battle the Shogun's army of assassins. Shogun Assassin was actually edited and compiled from the first two films in the Lone Wolf and Cub (also known as the Baby Cart series), using 12 minutes from the first film, Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance and most of the second, Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx. There are six films in all in the Baby Cart series, themselves based on the long running manga (comic book) series.

The project was oversaw by academy award winning director Robert Houston and his partner David Weisman, after Weisman obtained the rights for $50,000 from Toho Studios. The filmmakers hired deaf lip readers to help compose new English langauge dialogue to match the lip movements of the original Japanese actors. As it was compiled from separate stories, elements of the plot were simplified and the gaps filled in by adding narration from Itto's son, Daigoro. A new electronic score and new sound effects were also added, although portions from the original soundtrack still remain. It has gone on to become an influential pop culture classic, with audio clips from it used on rapper GZA's album Liquid Swords and a mention in Kill Bill Vol. 2, as the Uma Thurman's charater watches with her daughter.

A newly remastered and restored version has been released on DVD in North America by AnimEigo. AnimEigo has also release four sequels: Shogun Assassin 2: Lightning Swords of Death, a dubbed version of the third film in the Baby Cart Series, Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart to Hades; Shogun Assassin 3: Slashing Blades of Carnage, a dubbed version of the fourth film in the Baby Cart series, Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Peril; Shogun Assassin 4: Five Fistful Of Gold, a dubbed version of the fifth film, Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in the Land of Demons; and Shogun Assassin 5: a dubbed version of the final film in the series, Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven in Hell.

Essential title in the women of prison subgenre. The Big Doll House marks the first collaboration between future blaxploitation star Pam Grier and director Jack Hill. They would go on to work with each other again on the blaxploitation classics Coffy and Foxy Brown. Produced by B-Movie maestro Roger Corman and shot in the Philippines; The Big Doll House has everything that you would want from a Women in Prison picture... nudity, sex, violence, guns, drugs, lesbians, an evil insane warden, a sadistic guard, sadomasochistic torture, poisonous snakes, cat-fights, food fights, mud wrestling...

The plot is fairly routine for this type of picture. A women is sent to some undisclosed foreign tropical prison. The movie then follows her and five other inmates through life in the corrupt and abusive prison system. Eventually the women team up to bust out action movie style with guns blazing.

Much of the film was shot on the fly with some dialogue and plot elements being improvised by the cast and crew while filming. Hill brings some tongue-in-cheek humor to the proceedings with out devolving into out right camp (though some of the dialogue verges on it at times). It is most notable for being Pam Grier first major film role. Grier also sings the movie's theme song. Another frequent Jack Hill regular, cult b-movie actor, Sid Haig (House of 1000 Corpse, The Devil's Rejects) makes an appearances in the picture.

Released in 1971, film did a very successful business on the drive-in and grindhouse circuits. It was followed later that same year, by the film Women in Cages, which reused most of the same cast and locations from The Big Doll House. Hill himself directed the non-sequel follow-up, The Big Bird Cage, which was released the following year.

Thriller: A Cruel Picture, also know as They Call Her One Eye, A Hooker's Revenge and Thriller, is a 1973 Swedish rape and revenge exploitation film staring the glamour model turned exploitation movie goddess, Christina Lindberg. With a sweet innocent look and a perfectly proportioned body, Lindeberg was perhaps Sweden's most famous centerfold, appearing in Playboy, Penthouse and various other European Men's Magazines. Thriller tells the story of a young mute woman who is being forced into prostitution and heroin addiction. At one point having her eye gouged out as punishment for rebelling against her captors. A scene which has garnered much controversy, as the director is rumored to have used an actual corpse. She eventually does escape and sets forth training herself to take revenge.

Original marketed as the first film ever to be completely banned in Sweden, although this was not entirely true, as another movie, The Gardener had already been banned in 1912. After it's banning by the Swedish film censorship board it was edited from it's original 107 minutes to 104 and then again to 86 minutes. Still unable to get past the Swedish censors, it was finally cut down to 82. It is this 82 minute version that made it to american theaters.

Two new verisons of the film have recently been released on to DVD. Thriller: They Call Her One-Eye (Vengeance Edition) is basically 104 minute cut, containing some of the more violent action scenes missing from it's original theatrical release. While Thriller: A Cruel Picture (Limited Edition) contains the entire original 107 minutes of footage, including all the violence that was cut from the initial release, as well as some explicit hardcore insert shots. At the time this was not a completely unheard of practice in european film. Many European exploitation movies of the time were co-productions being sold to various markets with various tastes and needs. So different version of a film would be produced sometimes with pornographic material being inserted. Many times being executed quite clumsily with obviously differing actors, lighting, camera angles, and film stock.

Quentin Tarantino has called it "the roughest revenge movie ever", and has said that Lindenberg's character was an inspiration for Darrel Hannah's Elle Driver charcter in the Kill Bill movies. Though I suspect the Patch character from Jack Hill's Switchblade Sisters may have had more of an influence on that particular character.

Exploitation auteur Jack Hill wrote and directed this wild, often satiric girl-gang movie, whose story is very loosely based on Othello. Hill manages to jam packs this exploitation extravaganza with everything from teenage drug and prostitution rings, knife fights, sadistic juvy guards, black inner city Maoist revolutionaries, roller rink shootout, and urban combat , complete with armored cars, machine guns, and molotov cocktails. At the same time he's able to works in subtle elements of liberal feminist social commentary. Note that most of male characters are portrayed as either weak or short-sighted.

Switchblade Sisters follows the exploits of the Dagger Debs, the female counterpart to a male gang called the Silver Daggers, who control an inner-city high school, where they sell drugs and sex to the student body. When new girl Maggie joins the gang and befriends its tough-talking leader Lace, she arouses the jealousy of Patch, Lace's former right-hand woman, and catches the eye of Lace's boyfriend, Dominic, leader of the Daggers. When the Daggers are challenged by a rival gang and Dominic shout down at a bloody roller rink gunfight, Maggie steps in as leader and enlists the help of a tough band of female black militants in getting revenge. Through it all, Patch keeps driving a wedge between Maggie and Lace, leading to treachery, and more bloodshed.

Hill takes a stylized campy pop art approach to the material. The dialog alternates between subversively witty and absurdly silly and is actually well served by the actors' often hammy over the top performances. Perhaps the most memorable piece of dialog being Robbie Lee's (Lace) unique delivery of the line, "If you, it's gonna turn out baaad!" It was originally filmed under the title "The Jezebels" and the alternate title "Playgirl Gang" was considered. Eventually the more exploitation friendly Switchblade Sisters was the one that stuck.

Quentin Tarantino promoted its 1998 theatrical re-release under the auspices of his revival imprint, Rolling Thunder Pictures. The Elle Driver character in Tarantino's Kill Bill films seems to be heavily influenced by Patch.

Controversial early 80's slasher, directed by William Lustig and starring Joe Spinell, from Rocky and the Godfather, who also co-wrote from a story he developed. Spinell plays, Frank Zito, a middle aged over weight schizophrenic loner living in New York. During the day he's the landlord for a small rundown low rent apartment complex, but he spends most of his nights stalking and killing women. Frank scalps them, and brings the scalps along with their clothes back home to use in dressing one of his collection of mannequins. The mannequin then becomes a surrogate for Frank's deceased abusive prostitute mother with Frank carrying out a one sided relationship with it, before growing tired of it and moving on to the next mannequin.

The filming of Maniac was extremely low budget, forcing much of it to be shot guerilla-style, as the production could not afford shooting permits. It was never submitted to the MPPA, as it would have surely have gotten an x-rating for it extremely graphic violence. Instead it was released unrated, as was the practice at the time for the ultraviolent films of the time. The film's most infamously graphic scene, involves special effect master Tom Savini blowing his own head off (a dumby of himself) with a 12 gauge shotgun at point blank rage through a car windshield.

Maniac was nominated for a Saturn Award, by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films, USA, for Best Low Budget Film in 1981. Joe Spinell had planned to make a sequel to Maniac entitled Maniac 2: Mr. Robbie. In it, Spinell would have played the host of a kid's television show who murders the abusive parents of his fans. Although a short promotional film was made in 1986, but he was unable to secure financial backing for the production before his death1989.

Ultra-sleazy 70's exploitation slasher, filled with gratuitous nudity, misogyny, sex, and violence. Shot on grainy 16mm with little flash or flare, a grimy seedy atmosphere, mostly unsympathetic characters, and a general over all mean-spiritedness. Centerfold Girls is quintessential 1970's grindhouse exploitation fair.

The Centerfold Girls is the fairly simple story of pin-up models being stalked by geeky creepy god-fearing serial killer. It has two things that make it standout though. One is it's novel three part story arc structure. Centerfold Girls almost plays like an anthology, with three separate unrelated short stories linked together by the serial killer character. The second is cult favorite movie actor Andrew Prine. Prine steals the show with intense performance as the deranged, fanatical, morally obsessed killer, Clement Dunne. After picking his victim from a pin-up magazine, Clement stalks and harasses them with phone calls telling them that he wants to help them. However, before their final confrontation with Clement each of the girls meets up with and is taken advantage by a sordid collection of callous, opportunistic characters.

You can't really talk about Master of the Flying Guillotine without first talking a little about writer, director, star Jimmy Wang Yu. Born Wang Zheng-quan (also known under the names Wong Yu-lung and Wang Yue), Jimmy Wang Yu was once the top paid martial arts actor in Hong Kong. Arguably the first big international Hong Kong action film star. He rose to fame under the the auspices of director, Chang Cheh with the Shaw Brother Studio's martial arts classic, The One Armed Swordsman, in 1967. He solitified his Hong Kong film stardom with the film, The Chinese Boxer, in 1969. It's this film that is credited with kickstarting the unarmed martial arts combat genre of Hong Kong martial arts film.

However, Shortly afterwards Jimmy broke his contract with Shaw Brothers. Shaw Bothers quickly filed suit. The courts sided in the Shaw's favor, leading to Jimmy being banned from making movies in Hong Kong. However, Jimmy was able trade on the success of Chinese Boxer in hooking up with independent film companies like Golden Harvest and began writing, directing and producing his own films in Taiwan.

In1976, Jimmy appeared along side a young up incoming actor named Jackie Chan in a the Lo Wei film Killer Meteors. What happened next has become the stuff of legend and it's nearly impossible to separate fact from fiction. Jackie was under contract to director Lo Wei, who was trying with little success to turn him into the next Bruce Lee. To make some cash Wei agreed to loan Jackie out to another studio on a two picture deal. The first film was Snake in the Eagles Shadow, which was an instant smash hit. The second was Drunken Master, which was an even bigger hit. After this success Jackie wanted to break away from Wei to go to Golden Harvest. Wei insisted that Jackie was still under contract with him and refused to release him. Jackie apparently breaks this contract and goes to film The Young Masters at Golden Harvest. An irate Lo Wei then uses his alleged links to organized crime to send Triads after Jackie. It is at this point that it's Jimmy Wang Yu who steps in and supposedly using his own Triad connections forces Lo Wei to back off, not only saving Jackie's career but for all extensive purposes saving his life. That's the story anyway, how much is true and how much is exaggeration is up for debate. What is known is that Jimmy was instrumental in helping Chan settle a dispute with director Lo Wei and that Jackie repaid the favor by appearing in two of Jimmy's films, Fantasy Mission Force, in 1982, and Island of Fire, in 1990.

Controversy dogged Jimmy for most of his career. On set reports described him as arrogant, egotistical, and misogynistic. Australia Director Brian Trenchard-Smith gives a detailed account of Wang Yu's antics on the set of The Man From Hong Kong in the documentary Not Quite Hollywood. His off-screen exploits included well-publicized accounts of torrid affairs, drunken bar brawls, and even a 1981 murder charge. The charge was eventually dropped though, due to al lack of evidence.

In 1975 Jimmy Wang Yu wrote and directed Master of the Flying Guillotine, as a sequel to his 1971 hit The One Armed Boxer (aka The Chinese Professionals). For the One Armed Boxer, Jimmy had leaned a bit on his past success by combining his characters from his two most popular films, The One Armed Swordsman and The Chinese Boxer. For the sequel, he decided to throw in the flying guillotine, a weapon with a legendary weapon in Chinese history that had been introduced to movie audiences the year before by The Shaw Brothers in The Flying Guillotine.

The flying guillotine is a legendary Chinese weapon believed to originate from the time of the Yongzheng Emperor during the Qing Dynasty. The actual chinese name for weapon was Xue Di Zi, which in English translates to Blood Dripper. While there are stories and a few crude drawings detailing its possible appearance, no clear instructions on the weapons use or production are known to exist. The consensus is that they resembled a hat with a bladed rim with an attached long chain.Some accounts allege that it was thrown over a victims head, and retractable blades would cleanly decapitate them when the chain was pulled.However, there is also evidence that the weapon may have been used by being soaked with intense poison that is so powerful it could kill another person "at the sight of a drop of blood", possibly explaining its Chinese name. Other experts believe that it's use as a weapon was simply to impractical. Instead it's more likely that the mysterious rumors and stories of it's existence may have served as the true weapon, in the form of fear and intimidation.

Master of the flying Guillotine is set in the year 1730 during the reign of Emperor Yun Cheng, an early ruler of Manchu Ching Dynasty. The Emperor has been employing a group of assassins to hunted and kill rebels allied with followers of the former Ming dynasty. The most notorious of these assassins is Fung Sheng Wu Chi, a blind martial arts master, whose weapon of choice is the legendary flying guillotine. As the film opens he learns that two of his disciples (the Tibetan lamas from the first One Armed Boxer film, as seen in flash back) were killed by one armed boxer, Liu Ti Lung, and sets out to take to take revenge.

Meanwhile, the One Armed Boxer is running his own martial arts school where he teaches his pupils such skills as walking on walls and ceilings, through the use of breath control. When he receives an invitation from the local Eagles Claw school to attend their martial arts tournament, he accepts the invitation, but only as a spectator. It is here that Fung finally tracks him down. The One Armed Boxer is forced into an inescapable conflict, where he quickly finds himself surrounded by enemies as three foreign competitors from the tournament, including a Thai kickboxer, an Indian yoga master with extendable arms, and a Japanese samurai ally themselves with the guillotine master.

While Jimmy was not a particularly accomplished martial artist and his acting ability was fairly limited, he did possess a certain amount of charisma on screen. And what Jimmy lacked in the martial art skill he made up for with his directing. He knew how camera techniques and clever film editing could be used to project the illusion of his invincible fighting skill. While the martial arts in his films are not as good or as fast as what can be found in other films of its time, Jimmy filmed fights in a way that’ was easy to follow and not overly-laden with flying acrobatics.

The fight scenes were choreographed by brothers Lau Kar-Leung and Lau Kar-Wing. Most of the fights are memorably creative and make good use of space, whether they're inside or out. A large chunk of the film is set at the tournament, which consists of no less than nine individual fights. These matches are quick and fun to watch with multipe styles and weapons on display, encompassing everything from poles, long spears, three-sectioned staff, knives, rope, swords, kickboxing, monkey, eagle claw, iron body, snake, and mantis style kung fu, as well as fighting on posts over a pit of blades. Interestingly enough, Wang Yu's One Armed Boxer character doesn't take part in any of the tournament, the films longest fight sequence. In fact his character doesn't lay a hand on anyone for half the film.

What really distinguishes Master of the Flying Guillotine is that it breaks with the rules of nobility and chivalry of most martial arts films. Where as the basic formula for most martial art film involved the stalwart hero overcoming the villain only after going off to train and learn some new fighting style, Jimmy's One Armed Boxer character simply uses cunning and deceit to lure his enemies into a trap. Some might call it cheating, although Sun Tzu would probably call excellent battle strategy.

Another thing that stands out is the soundtrack. The music in the film breaks the mold of other films in the genre that up to that point usually borrowed heavily from Spaghetti Westerns. Master of the Flying Guillotine went a different route and used tracks consisting of mostly ’70s era electronica from bands like Neu!, Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream.

Master of the Flying Guillotine has a large cult following and a tremendous cultural influence. It laid out the formula for one of the greatest genres in the video game history : the tournament fighter. A decade after it's release it spawned dozens of games such as Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Tekken, Pit Fighter and Virtual Fighter. The comparisons between the character Dhalsim from the Street Fighter video game and the Indian assassin in the film are quite obvious. Clips from the film's soundtrack have been sampled by Wu Tang Clan and the film has been mentioned in their lyrics. Quentin Tarantino has cited the film as being one of his favorite movies of all time.In his film Kill Bill, he used the villain's theme music briefly when O-Ren Ishii appeared, as well as the film's protagonist's hiding on the ceiling in the same manner as the imperial assassin in this film.